I recently delivered the State of the City Address where I was happy to report that the City continues to be functional and financially sustainable. The City’s forecast for economic growth is 0.9% for 2024. We are indeed on a path to robust recovery in key sectors such as transport, finance, and construction, driven by our Economic Recovery Plan. The tourism sector bouncing back with visitor numbers in the City returning to pre-COVID-19 levels. 

It was a poignant moment when I delivered my address, as it was against the backdrop of the 30th anniversary of the democratic government. 27 April 1994 shered in a new dispensation which brought renewed hope to millions of people who were oppressed and marginalised by the brutal apartheid regime. We marvelled at the sight of senior citizens, who had only dreamed of exercising their right to vote, braving the scorching sun and standing patiently in snaking queues to cast their vote for the first time. Therefore, we derive our commitment to serve with humility and integrity from knowing that we carry the hopes and aspirations of the masses of our people who continue to put their trust in the African National Congress. Because we don’t take this responsibility bestowed on us lightly, we continue to endeavour to deliver quality services that will make meaningful change to our residents.

As we mark 24 years of the democratic local government, we look back with pride that close to one million households in eThekwini Municipality now have access to basic services such as water, electricity and tarred roads. We all know that in the past these services were reserved for a tiny section of our population and the existing infrastructure, at the time, was designed to cater only for their needs. That is why over the past few years, we have been grappling with intermittent supply of water and electricity which affects various communities. In our effort to drive our social transformation agenda of creating an equal society, we have embarked on a radical programme to build adequate infrastructure to meet the needs of our ever-growing population. Since eThekwini Municipality became a Metro in 2000, an additional 200 000 households gained access to water and electricity. Today, the Municipality has approximately 800 000 households that have full access to water and electricity.

Building on these achievements, we have plans to accelerate service delivery going forward. While we acknowledge the positive strides this democratic government has made in transforming people’s lives, we are not oblivious to the challenges that continue to confront us. We continue to grapple with intermittent water and electricity, inadequate road infrastructure, unkept parks, sport and recreation facilities.  We are confident that the plans we have will bring practical solutions to service delivery. The establishment of the service delivery war room which is chaired by our Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube, demonstrates that we are working with all spheres of government to deliver quality services to our residents.